Gas burning cigarette lighter

ABSTRACT

THE INVENTION IS CONCERNED WITH A GAS BURNING CIGARETTE LIGHTER OF THE KIND IN WHICH THE GAS IS IGNITED AT A BURNER NOZZLE BY MEANS OF ELECTRICAL SPARKING BETWEEN ELECTRODES IN AN IGNITION ZONE DOWNSTREAM OF THE BURNER NOZZLE. THE LIGHTER HAS AN ACTUATING MEMBER WHICH IS MOVABLE UPON MANUAL DEPRESSION AGAINST SPRING ACTION FROM A REST POSITION TO AN OPERATING POSITION AND THIS MOVEMENT CAUSES A BURNER VALVE TO BE OPENED SO THAT FUEL GAS ISSUES FROM THE BURNER NOZZLE AND A SPARK TO BE PRODUCED IN THE IGNITION ZONE SO THAT THE GASEOUS FUEL IS IGNITED IN THE IGNITION ZONE. A FRONT END OF THE ACTUATING MEMBER OCCUPIES THE   IGNITION ZONE AND OVERLIES THE BURNER NOZZLE WHEN IN THE REST POSITION AND IS WITHDRAWN TO REVEAL THE BURNER NOZZLE AND TO CREATE THE IGNITION ZONE WHEN MOVED TO ITS OPERATING POSITION. THE FRONT END OF THE ACTUATING MEMBER THEN DEFINES ONE LATERAL BOUNDARY OF THE IGNITION ZONE AT LEAST ONE OTHER SIDE WHICH IS THEN COMPLETELY OPEN TO THE ATMOSPHERE WITHOUT AN OBSTRUCTION.

Feb. 23, 1971 H, LOWENTHAL ETAL 3,565,561

GAS BURNING CIGARETTE LIGHTER Filed March 17, 1969 19 75 FIG]? 3,565,561 GAS BURNING CIGARETTE LIGHTER Hans Lowenthal, London, and William Retzler, Woodend,

Wickham, England, assignors to Tetra Molectric Limited, London, England, a British company Filed Mar. 17, 1969, Ser. No. 807,554 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Mar. 26, 1968, 14,554/ 68 Int. Cl. F23g 2/16, 2/28 US. Cl. 431-430 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The invention is concerned with a gas burning cigarette lighter of the kind in which the gas is ignited at a burner nozzle by means of electrical sparking between electrodes in an ignition zone downstream of the burner nozzle. The lighter has an actuating member which is movable upon manual depression against spring action from a rest position to an operating position and this movement causes a burner valve to be opened so that fuel gas issues from the burner nozzle and a spark to be produced in the ignition zone so that the gaseous fuel is ignited in the ignition zone. A front end of the actuating member occupies the ignition zone and overlies the burner nozzle when in the rest position and is withdrawn to reveal the burner nozzle and to create the ignition zone when moved to its operating position. The front end of the actuating member then defines one lateral boundary of the ignition zone at least one other side of which is then completely open to the atmosphere without any obstruction.

This invention is concerned with gas burning cigarette lighters of the kind in which the gas is ignited at a burner nozzle by means of electrical sparking between electrodes in an ignition zone downstream of the burner nozzle. One of the electrodes may be the burner nozzle itself. The electric spark may be produced for example from a battery and condenser or from a manually operated dynamo or piezoelectric system contained within the lighter.

In cigarette lighters of this kind it is desirable for the lighter action and the burner nozzle to be concealed by the outer shell of the lighter, at least in the rest position of the lighter, to minimise the ingress of dirt and to protect the electrodes, disturbance of which may effect the critical spark gap between the electrodes. Previously this problem has been met by locating the burner nozzle within the shell and pointing towards a flame aperture in the shell. In this case the gas is ignited in an ignition zone within the shell and the flame burns through the flame aperture. This is an inefficient arrangement because in order to provide an inlet for combustion air to the ignition zone so that the gas mixes with the air to form a combustible mixture quickly, louvres or slits have to be made in the shell. These are unsightly and do not allow the ingress of an ideal amount of air. Furthermore dirt can enter the shell through the flame aperture, and louvres or slits, and lodge on the burner nozzle, electrodes, and other parts of the action. The existence of the ignition zone takes up an appreciable amount of space within the shell, this space being wasted and preventing the lighter being as compact as it would otherwise be, prior to operation of the lighter.

According to the invention, in a gas burning cigarette lighter of the kind described, the lighter has an actuating member which is movable upon manual depression against spring action from a rest position to an operating position and this movement causing a burner valve to be opened so that fuel gas issues from the burner nozzle and a spark to be produced in the ignition zone so that the United States Patent 3,565,561 Patented Feb. 23, 1971 gaseous fuel is ignited in the ignition zone, a front end of the actuating member occupying the ignition zone and overlying the burner nozzle when in the rest position and being withdrawn to reveal the burner nozzle and to create the ignition zone when moved to its operating position so that the front end then defines one lateral boundary of the ignition zone at least one other side of which is then completely open to the atmosphere without any obstruction.

With this arrangement the essential parts are fully concealed in the rest position of the lighter but displace ment of the actuating member, creates an ignition zone into which air can flow freely from the atmosphere for mixing with the fuel gas leaving the burner. Since the front of the actuating member actually occupies the ignition zone prior to operation, there is a maximum conservation of space in the rest position. The front end surface of the actuating member may form a part of the outer surface of the lighter in the rest position.

In order to conserve space still further, one of the electrodes, preferably the non-earthed electrode, may be housed within the actuating member, and indeed rigidly fixed to the actuating member so that it moves with it.

The electrode which moves with the actuating member, may be embedded in a mass of insulating material with the tip of the electrode at which sparking takes place exposed at the front end of the actuating member.

In this way the embedded electrode is rigidly mounted and its exposed tip may be cleaned as necessary without affecting the spark gap between the two electrodes.

The embedded electrode may be an end of an electrical lead wire which carries the sparking voltage from the voltage source.

Some examples of fully automatic lighters in which the spark is produced by a piezoelectric ignition system, are illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one example in the rest position;

FIG. 2 is a similar view showing the lighter operated;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are views similar to FIGS. 1 and 2 but of a second example;

FIGS. 5 to 7 are scrap sections illustrating various examples of embedded electrodes applicable to the lighters shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 of FIGS. 3 and 4; and,

FIGS. 8 and 9 are views similar to FIGS. 1 and 2 but of a third example of lighter.

The first example of lighter has a body 9 and a thumb piece actuating member 10 which together provide, in the rest position shown in FIG. 1, a box casing. To operate the lighter, the thumbpiece 10 is displaced backwards and downwards with a translational movement to the FIG. 2 operating position whereupon a burner nozzle 11 is revealed and a burner shut-off valve is opened so that gaseous fuel is discharged through the nozzle into an ignition zone 12. This zone 12 is bounded on three sides by the front end wall of the actuating member 10, and two opposite wings 13 forming upper edge portions of the body 9. The fourth sides of the ignition zone 12 is completely open to atmosphere.

The displacement of the actuating member 10 also operates a piezoelectric system within the lighter so that a spark is produced between a non earthed electrode 14 embedded in, and exposed at, the surface of a body of insulating material 15 carried rigidly within and forming the majority of the front end face of the thumbpiece 10. The spark ignites the fuel in the ignition zone 12 and causes a flame 16 to burn. The flame is immediately adjacent to the upper corner of the lighter when it is most convenient for use and the fact that one side of the ignition zone 12 is com-pletely open to atmosphere ensures quick ignition and excellent combustion. In the rest position shown in FIG, 1 the burner nozzle 11 is completely concealed and protected by the front end of the actuating member 10. A further advantage of this construction is that the ignition zone 12 is occupied by part of the actuating member 10 in the rest position so that the space is then usefully used and the lighter is extremely compact.

The dotted line flame in FIG. 2 indicates that which would be produced by a slight change in the orientation of the burner nozzle 11.

In the second example, which is similar in many respects to the first example, the thumbpiece 10 again rigidly carries an electrode 14 embedded in a block of insulating material 15. When the thumbpiece 10 is displaced back- I wards and downwards as shown in FIG. 4 against spring action an ignition zone 12 is created by the withdrawal of the front end of the actuating member. This ignition zone is completely open to atmosphere on three sides, being bounded on one side only by the front end of the thumb piece. At the same time the burner valve is opened and a spark is produced between the electrode 14 and the burner nozzle 11 so that a flame 16 is ignited.

FIG. 5 illustrates one example of an electrode 14 and insulated block 15 in which the tip of the electrode is flush with the end surface 17 of the block. In the FIG. 6 example the tip of the electrode 14 is pointed and is just exposed in the base of a recess 18 in an end face of the block 15. In the FIG. 7 example the electrode 14 has a tip in the form of a head 19 which is exposed at the end face of the block 15. These mountings ensure that the electrodes 13 cannot easily be damaged even though they are exposed at the front end of the thurnbpiece in the rest position.

In the third example of lighter, as illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9, similar movement of the thumbpiece 10 reveals a burner nozzle 11 which discharges into an ignition zone 12. This zone is created between the front end of the thumbpiece 10 and an upstanding wing 13 with the body 9 and is completely open to atmosphere on the other two sides. In this case movement of the thumbpiece 10 opens the burner valve and causes a spark to be produced between a fixed electrode 14, over which the hollow front end of the thurnbpiece moves, and the burner nozzle 11 to ignite a flame 16.

In all the examples the lighter is fully automatic, that is to say the parts resume the rest position upon release of the thumbpiece 10.

a It will be appreciated that the thumbpieces 10 move rearwardly from the burner nozzle outside the confines of the shell of the lighter body in the rest position when the lighter is operated. This extra space may be used to accommodate the stroke between a hammer and a piezoelectric element which strike one another to provide the ignition spark, in a manner described in copending US. application S.N. 807,585.

We claim:

1. In a gas burning cigarette lighter comprising a burner nozzle, a reservoir tank for liquefied gaseous fuel connected to said burner nozzle, a burner valve adapted to start and stop the flow of gas from said tank through said nozzle to said ignition zone, electrode means positioned to discharge a spark to ignite gaseous fuel leaving said burner nozzle when a voltage is provided between said electrodes, means for providing said voltage, a manually depressible actuating member mounted for translational movement from a rest position to an operative position, during which movement it actuates said voltage providing means and opens said burner valve, and spring means mounted to oppose said movement of said actuating member and return said actuating member to said rest position upon subsequent release thereof; the improvement according to which said actuating member comprises an end part which is rigidly connected to the remainder of said actuating member and overlies said burner nozzle when said actuating member is in said rest position to close an ignition zone above said burner nozzle, but which moves away from a position above said burner when said actuating member is moved to said operative position to define one boundary of said ignition zone and leave at least one side of said ignition zone positioned laterally of said burner nozzle completely open to the ambient atmos-phere.

2. A lighter according to claim 1, wherein a front end surface of said front end of said actuating member defines said boundary in said operative position, said front end surface being exposed and forming a part of the outer surface of said lighter in said rest position.

3. A lighter according to claim 1, wherein one of said electrodes is housed within said actuating member.

4. A lighter according to claim 3, further comprising means rigidly fixing said housed electrode to said actuating member whereby said housed electrode moves with said actuating member.

5. A lighter according to claim 4, wherein said rigid fixing means comprises a mass of insulating material with said housed electrode embedded therein whereby a tip of said housed electrode at which sparking takes place is exposed at said front end of said actuating member.

6. A lighter according to claim 3, wherein said housed electrode is the non-grounded one of said electrodes.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,167,687 1/1965 Buitkus 431-132 3,387,912 6/1968 Goto 431132X 3,408,153 10/1968 Ishiguro 431l43 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,164,141 2/1964 Germany 431132 EDWARD 1. MICHAEL, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

